IMPROVEMENT IN AIR

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 98, 20 January 1943, Page 5

IMPROVEMENT IN AIR

Gen. Harmon’s Comment (Official War Correspondent. N’.Z.E.F.I GUADALCANAL, December 30. The air strength of the United Nations in the South Pacific has improved greatly in the ’inst. three months, said MajorGeneral Millard F. Harmon, commanding the United States Army Forces throughout this area, in an interview during one of his frequent, visits to Guadalcanal. General Harmon explained that the improvement is due to the .development ot airfields and other facilities in the area. “You cannot measure the air effort in termp of aeroplanes alone,” he said, 1 oil must measure it by all the operational facilities, and they include landing holds, fuelling, maintenance, and personnel necessities. in addition to aeroplanes. Asked to give reasons for the long lull in the Japanese attempts to bomb the Henderson field, and other objectives on Guadalcanal, General Tlarnion said : “The Japanese has never been over-enthusias-tic about night operations. If you go bnek and chock on his operations you will find he never used his air force to a groat extent at night.and every time he came down here with bombers in the daytime lie look such an awful beating that he •can’t afford to keep it up. Nobody can stand losses like that. We could not stand them ourselves, if we were losing St) Io 90 per cent, of our attacking forces, ns bo did.” Referring to the enemy s efforts to. establish a new air base at Munda Point, Now Georgia Island, only 180 miles from here, the general e-nid that any airfield which the Japanese possessed within range of our bases was something that had to be taken seriously. “At present we are in process of neutralizing it.” he added, referring to the constant bombing mid hnraswing raids to which the Munda field is being subjected. General Harmon is soberly confident about the position of the ground forces on Guadalcanal. “The reduction of the enemy forces here is just a question of time.” he said. "It is a matter of cleaning them out." U.S. RAIDS IN SOLOMONS LONDON. January 18. In the Solomons. United States bombers have made five raids on Japanese bases on Bougainville mid Ballahl Islands. The latter island is off Shorthind Island. , , About 150 Japanese have been killed in the latest land operations on Guadal-